Development and Characterisation of a Smoking Behaviour Measurement System

Respiratory deposition from smoking articles is influenced by particle or droplet properties (such as diameter), puffing parameters (such as draw effort or pressure drop, flow rate, duration), mouth losses, and post-puff inhalation dynamics (determined by inhalation depth, volume and breath hold duration). The Smoking Behaviour System (SBS) described herein is a novel system with regard to its capability to measure flow and duration characteristics of typical smoking cycles, which may consist of puffing, mouth hold, post-puff inhalation, breath hold and exhalation. It combines two analysers: the first measures the puffing topography and optical obscuration from puffed aerosol, while the second measures the respiratory topography and optical obscuration from exhaled aerosol. The puffing and respiratory analysers were calibrated and operated between flow rates of 0-7 L.min^-1 and 0-50 L.min^-1, respectively, as typically encountered during the human smoking cycle. The volumes measured by the puffing and respiratory analysers met the design specification and tolerance limits of ± 2% and ± 5%, respectively. The optical obscuration measurements showed no statistical difference among the three units tested or in day-to-day variation, verifying the robustness of the SBS for use in optical measurements of smoke when combined with topography measurements. In conclusion, the SBS is a validated technology that provides a means to measure the real-time flow and duration profile of puffing, mouth hold, post-puff inhalation, breath hold